Method of renewing and repairing worn metal surfaces



Uhll'i'na PATENT OFFMIE.

JOHN WILLIAM PHILLIPS, OF VERONA, NEW JERSEY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

No Drawing.

To all av/1.0m it may concern:

e it known that l, dorm i VILLIAM Pinnra'rs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Verona, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in ll lethods of lienewing and Repairing ll orn Metal Surfaces, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a method of renewing and repairing worn metal surfaces, as for instance, scored engine cylinders. The scoring of the cylinders of internal combustion engines, due to the presence of foreign matter in the cylinder, or to disarrangement of operating parts, very often leads to the channeling or scoring of the interior wall of the cylinder and as a result of this condition compression within the cylinder is lost.

It has heretofore been proposed to repair scored or channeled or otherwise worn surfaces like cylinder walls, or cracks in water jackets, etc, by filling the holes or channels with molten metal such as block tin, which is supposed to adhere to the surface of the wall or channel and constitute in effect a plug, the outer surface of which is trimmed off so that it is flush or continuous with the remaining undamaged surface of the cylinder wall. I have found it to be an objection to this method of repair, that the inserted or applied metal or plug does not adhere and soon peels off and falls out of position; and I believe that the reason for this unsatisfactory result is that block tin, or an alloy in which block tin predominates, when put in the cavity in the cast iron cylinder, does not make even a good face-to-face contact with the iron. And 1 have determined by experiment that if the cavity in the iron surface which is being repaired is, as a preliminary, given a thin coating of another metal, as for instance copper, electrolytically applied, the block tin afterward put into the copper lined cavity will adhere positively and cannot be shaken loose in the ordinary operation of the engine. This is probably due to the fact that the preliminary coat or lining is applied to the iron in such a finely divided condition and otherwise in such a manner that the lining itself is in actual physical union with the iron; and then because the electrolytically deposited metal is porous, the filling metal which is afterward put in, makes a better union with the lining,

Application filed June 14, 1919.

Patented Apr. 12, 15321. Serial No. 304,257.

Accordmgly, in the practice of my invention I may proceed as follows: The surface of the metal at and around the cavity which is to be filled is first mechanicallytreated by grinding or filing or scraping to remove surface scale and grease and dirt, and then I make a dam around the cavity which is to be filled, with putty or the likeJthus making of the cavity a container for a combined cleaning fluid and electrolyte, which may consist of one and one-half ounces copper sulfate, two ounces liquid ammonia, and two ounces eyanid of potassium. This solution remains in place for a short time and has the effect of dissolving out from the exposed surfaces of the cavity all oil, carbon and the like, so that the surface of the cavity Wlll present multitudinous points of coritact, and will be in effect desirably roughened, as distinguished from the condition when the cavity walls are merely scraped and polished to brighten them, preparatory to putting in the molten metal, as in systerns heretofore in use. An electrode is now lnserted into the electrolyte, the cavity wall itself constituting the other electrode, and current is passed from one electrode to the other through the electrolyte, resulting in the deposit on the cavity wall of a copper coating or lining of desired thickness. The electrode introduced into the liquid may be of copper, so that the loss of copper in the solution under electrolysis may be made up,-

though ordinarily this is not necessary. The liquid is now removed and the cavity washed out with clean water until all traces of the tion are removed. and the copper lining remains in place smooth and continuous, closely adherent to and between all the minute roughnesses of the iron cavity wall. A soldering flux is now applied to the lined wall of the cavity and the molteniilling metal, which may be pure block tin, is filled in. On small repairs this is done under the heat of a torch with a mold flame so that the block tin, copper lining and cast iron base will become in effect homogeneous, all three being heated together. A good soldering iron is generally suflicient, though on very large repairs where more heat is required, preheating of the cavity by means of a charcoal fire or the like, will result in a better union. The dam' around the cavity may be kept in position until the filling is applied, and it will serve to prevent the running off and waste of the filling metal. But the principal function of the dam, as before stated, is to make with the cavity, a container for the cleaning and electrolytic solution. The filling may be made to extend out beyond the surface of the cavity proper if desired and afterward trimmed off when the dam has been removed, and this is preferably the best plan, because it is easier to trim off surplus metal than to make good a deficiency of metal.

I claim:

1. The method of filling a cavity in a cylinder or the like which consists in providing the cavity with a metallic lining by electro-deposition, and then filling the cavity by flowing metal into it, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The method as set forth in claim 1 in which the electrolytically deposited lining is a different metal from the metal of the cylinder.

3; The method as set forth in claim 1 in which the electrolytically deposited lining is copper and the filling metal is block tin.

4;. The method of filling cavities'in cylinders or the like which consists in providing a dam about the cavity, placing within the cavity an electrolyte comprising a metallic salt in solution, introducing an electrode into the solution, utilizing the metal of the cylinder itself as the other electrode, and passing electric current from one electrode to the other through the solution.

5. The method described in claim f in wvhich the electrolytic solution is also a cleaning fluid having the property of removing grease etc. from the surface of the cavity.

6. A combustion engine cylinder having a plug or filling in its wall including a lining of a metal on the wall of the cavity in which the plug fits, and a filling of another metal.

In testimony whereof I my signature.

JOHN WILLIAM PHILLIPS. 

